“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

Charles Dickens – A Tale Of Two Cities

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“No one wants to hear your opinion. They want to hear their opinion coming out of your mouth”

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As I write this the America I was born into, and grew up in, seems to now be two America’s ideologically split into two warring camps with non-negotiable demands at the extremes. 

At least that is what is portrayed in the media. I suspect that the reality for most folks is more like a 20-60-20 divide with the majority somewhere in that 60 percentile center wondering what the heck has happened to the country most of us thought we lived in. 

The 20 percentile on either end of this spectrum are getting all the media attention and making most of the noise.  Like the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.

We seem to be losing, or have lost our ability to talk to each other without yelling and posters demanding our way or the highway like a bunch of two year old’s. 

Whether it is Abortion, Guns, Racial issues, Inflation or one of the endless foreign entanglements we seem to get into, folks tend to take “set in concrete” positions that defy civilized conversation.  

People, we can disagree intently about something without hating each other.  I was deeply saddened a couple of days back when a friend of many years posted on Facebook that “If you take XXXX position on the Roe vs Wade decision you are “Out of my life”.  

Daring to gingerly touch the politically and morally hot “Third Rail” subject of abortion on demand let me say that I can have a “non-yelling” conversation on the subject. 

I am personally “Pro-Life”.  I believe life is precious and should be preserved and protected whenever possible but am open to a discussion on the subject in cases of rape, incest, violence and the threat of life to the “mother to be” or other medically tenuous situations where perhaps the only real option is the medical necessity for an abortion.  Maybe even for some unplanned pregnancies in the very early term it could be honestly argued and defended under certain circumstances.  In real life people sometimes need to make very difficult and painful decisions.  It is not my place to judge individuals.  I am open to listening and having an honest conversation.  No yelling and no name calling – I promise.

My question is this:  Can the “Pro-Choice” individual have a “non-yelling” conversation about the consequences of performing a mid to late term abortion on a healthy fetus from a healthy “mother to be”?  “Premature” births of infants from the fifth month on are not uncommon and the babies born this way most often live long and healthy lives.  If a criminal attacks a “mother to be” and kills an unborn baby in the womb, what do we call that?

Is such a conversation even possible?  I believe there is a great number of people in that mid 60% group who would welcome such a dialog.

A similar conversation could be held in regard to the ownership of guns by law abiding private citizens.  Government could confiscate every one of the much feared, even hated, AR-15 Rifles from law abiding citizens  in the country and it would not keep them out of the hands of criminals and killers.  With the reduced funding for law enforcement and “soft on crime” courts the average citizen is at great risk from criminals who love gun control laws that disarm law abiding people.  Most of the gun deaths in our nation are the result of illegal guns in the hands of non-law abiding criminals and gang members, often related to drug traffic and “turf” wars.

Can we have a non-political conversation on this subject that deals with facts and not heated rhetoric and fear?

There are other volatile and divisive topics that are begging for some calm and reasoned discussion and solutions that we can all live with.  As a nation and people we need to seek out those answers that actually work and don’t just feed our egos and bias’s.

We are a badly divided nation at this time and we all can understand that a “Divided House Cannot Stand”. 

Bob Bandy – July 2022